Sylvester native and 2015 Worth County High School Graduate John David Acord graduated from Army Airborne school at Fort Benning on Friday, December 4. The three week course teaches basic parachute skills, and the final week requires completing five jumps including a night jump. But, the resolve to jump from an airplane into combat is nothing new to the Acord family. In fact, John David marks the third generation in a proud legacy to earn his wings.
Bill Acord, John David’s grandfather, explains that he attended the school at Fort Benning in April of 1963. He had an older neighbor who joined the Army and became a paratrooper. The neighbor made an impression on Bill as a child, and while he was attending Navy ROTC classes in college to man a submarine, he decided that a life at sea wasn’t for him.
The elder Acord and a friend paid a visit to a recruiting center, but the Army recruiter wasn’t there. His friend went in to speak with the Air Force recruiter, but Bill says he had no interest in joining. The Air Force recruiter was a “pretty good salesman” as Acord recalls, and by the end of the day, he had enlisted to serve as a paratrooper with the Air Force.
He served as an Air Rescue Medic initially. Then, he served with the 320th Air Commandos during Viet Nam. Finally, he served with a test company at Eglin Air Force base to test the best ways to jump from a C130.
Following in their father’s footsteps, brothers David (John David’s father) and Dane (uncle) joined the Army after graduating from Worth County High in 1987 and 1991 respectively. When David graduated from Airborne school, Bill passed down his wings to his son in the pinning ceremony. Likewise, when John David graduated this month, the same wings from his father and his grandfather before him were pinned on his uniform.
David served and when he got out, he was called back to serve in Operation Desert Storm with the 10th Mountain Division. However, the war ended as he was preparing to deploy. He also served for a short time with a Special Forces reserve unit in Auburn, Alabama.
His brother Dane remains in the Army as a full bird colonel with 22 years under his belt in the 82nd Airborne. When Dane earned his senior parachute wings, Bill also passed down his senior wings to the younger brother. Colonel Acord has served in Somalia, Haiti, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and he is returning to Afghanistan in June. He is now a Jump Master with over 80 jumps.
“We’re just a patriotic family,” Bill Acord explains. “In my family, we’ve had people serve in the military for ten generations, from the Revolutionary War. In every war, we’ve had somebody in it.”
Bill’s father served in the Marine Corps in Guadalcanal during World War II. His grandfather served in World War I, and his great grandfather was killed in the Spanish American War. Both his grandfather and great grandfather are buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
“We’ve just always been a family that served,” he says. “We believe that this is a country that has been bought and paid for with the blood of men and women on this soil and on foreign soil. And, if this country needs us, I have no doubt that any of my sons would step up to serve. It was just instilled in us that when your country needed you and your family needed you, you stood up.” Bill and David agree that it was an emotional and humbling experience to pin John David’s wings during the graduation ceremony.
Following the pinning ceremony two weeks ago, John David Acord is currently undergoing Ranger assessment. After the eight week course, he’ll join Ranger Battalion and go to Ranger school.
